posted Sep 27th, 2017 - The 4-way competition at the USPA Nationals 2017 was completed in the early afternoon on Tuesday, and everything went back to 4-way business as usual after a thrilling start.

It was still a 1-point battle between Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the end of the first day and after seven rounds. Rhythm had really scared Airspeed on Monday, and everything was possible with three remaining rounds. It was only the first round on Tuesday morning that the challenger really gave away, and it was enough for Airspeed to carry the next 4-way title over the finish line with a 6-point advantage.

NMP PCH HayaBusa had pulled away from the field while the two best U.S. teams battled for the rights to take on the 4-way world champions from Belgium next year at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Australia. HayaBusa finished 12 points ahead of Airspeed and do not have to worry at this point in time.

The Belgiums enjoy their visit to Perris not only in 4-way. They also started the 8-way competition in a most surprising way. The Fly-In Machine 44 was one point ahead of the Golden Knights after Round 3 before the U.S. Army team took the Belgians serious enough and picked up the pace.

FAI World Cup 2005			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		4,H,7	12,16,19	M,J,O,5	8,15,K	G,C,20,D	9,14,Q	18,N,22	P,10,1	2,11,21	L,13,F,17	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Odyssey	US	24	17	34	19	25	24	19	18	18	24	222	22.2
2	DeLand Fire	US	23	18	30	19	23	23	16	19	15	26	212	21.2
2	Black Cat	RU	23	18	30	18	23	23	19	18	15	25	212	21.2
4	Extreme.RU	RU	23	17	28	18	21	23	17	18	17	21	203	20.3
5	Fastrax	US	21	17	31	18	24	17	16	17	16	20	197	19.7
6	Arcteryx	NO	20	16	29	16	22	19	16	17	16	21	192	19.2
7	FSC Remscheid	DE	19	16	28	16	19	19	14	17	15	-	163	18.1
8	SkyLight Barkli	RU	20	16	28	13	17	18	15	17	17	-	161	17.9
9	Danez	DK	19	15	24	14	20	19	15	14	15	-	155	17.2
10	LaPalisse Maubeuge	FR	18	15	24	14	17	16	14	15	15	-	148	16.4
11	Army	UK	17	13	22	12	17	15	12	14	-	-	122	15.3
12	CTR Optimum	BR	13	10	18	11	14	14	11	12	-	-	103	12.9
13	South Park	UK	14	8	18	11	14	13	10	12	-	-	100	12.5
14	4-Motion	UK	14	10	19	11	9	13	11	11	-	-	98	12.3
15	Magic 4	LT	12	9	11	11	11	11	11	8	-	-	84	10.5

The NSL News mentioned on 22 September 2017 that there would be a very special reunion at this year's national championship in Perris. The first lineup of one of the legendary Airspeed teams, Airspeed Odyssey (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk, Brian Johnson), was back in 4-way action.

The NSL News used the unique opportunity for a live conversation on NSL-TV. Odyssey had finished their light training schedule on Sunday and had a few minutes for a new NSL Live Talk.

A few 4-way jumps would be helpful before the 10-round competition. Brian Johnson said that he has made 11 jumps in the past four years, and Andy Delk has not been much busier in 4-way either.

The 2017 Odyssey lineup was the start into a new Airspeed 4-way era in 2005. Craig Girard came from the Vertical lineup that had won 4-way gold for the U.S.A. in Spain 2001, where Eliana Rodriguez won her gold medal in 4-way Women with Synchronicity. She joined Airspeed's 8-way lineup in 2002 where she met Craig Girard.

Airspeed Vertical discontinued after the USPA Nationals 2003, while Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard won their next gold medals in 8-way in Croatia 2004. DeLand Majik won the 4-way competition.

USPA Nationals 2005		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	2,A,19	F,20,D,9	C,21,N,11	15,M,8	4,6,P	5,1,H	22,7,12	3,K,16	E,17,14	13,18,J	O,G,B,L,Q	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Fire	22	27	22	20	18	21	17	21	22	20	36	210	21.0
1	Golden Knights Black	21	27	21	20	22	22	17	19	23	18	34	210	21.0
3	Airspeed Odyssey	21	26	20	19	20	20	17	20	22	18	-	203	20.3
4	DeLand Majik	20	25	19	19	17	20	16	20	18	18	-	192	19.2
5	Fastrax	20	26	20	19	18	18	15	19	19	17	-	191	19.1
6	Airspeed Velocity	21	23	21	16	17	17	15	18	22	18	-	188	18.8
7	Phugoid	18	20	12	15	16	16	12	16	17	15	-	157	15.7
8	Perris Fury	17	19	17	15	13	14	14	15	17	15	-	156	15.6
9	Perris Synchronicity	16	19	17	15	15	15	12	15	17	13	-	154	15.4
10	Spaceland Thunder	15	19	15	16	15	15	13	15	16	13	-	152	15.2
11	Fastrax Select	16	17	15	15	15	15	11	14	14	13	-	145	14.5
12	Spark	14	18	13	15	14	16	13	13	14	14	-	144	14.4
12	GKOG	16	18	13	16	16	10	12	15	16	12	-	144	14.4
14	Arizona Directe	14	17	15	14	15	13	11	16	14	13	-	142	14.2
15	Aerodyne Mamba	14	14	12	13	11	13	12	11	13	12	-	125	12.5
16	Dallas Mojo	12	15	13	10	13	13	11	13	14	10	-	124	12.4
17	Element Perris	14	14	13	11	12	12	10	13	12	10	-	121	12.1
18	Kachina	10	14	10	11	11	12	9	10	13	10	-	110	11.0

Then it was time to build the next Airspeed 4-way team, which turned out to become the Airspeed Odyssey generation. Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard recruited Andy Delk and Brian Johnson for the 2005 season, and Odyssey won 4-way gold medals four years later in Maubeuge 2008.

The original Odyssey lineup trained and competed only for one intensive 4-way year before Mark Kirkby took the 4th slot. It included the Malevsky Cup in Russia, the USPA Nationals and the World Cup. Both new Airspeed 4-way lineups (Odyssey - Velocity) also attended the Valentine's Meet 2005 and two meets of the Southwest Skydiving League for competition practice.

Result was the 1st place at the FAI World Cup 2005 with a 22.2 average, including a re-match with DeLand Fire who won the USPA Nationals a few months earlier at the same place where the original Odyssey lineup now celebrates a reunion.

Odyssey was in contention for USPA bronze medals this Monday and Tuesday, and the well trained Golden Knights had to work hard to defend their position by six points. The same Golden Knights lineup had won the USPA 4-way bronze medals with a 22.3 average last year, which is exactly the same as this week. Odyssey finished with a significantly higher meet average compared to their 20.3 in 2005...

USPA Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		O,4,9	G,21,A,H	N,D,J,14	L,16,12	K,19,6	E,2,10	P,11,15	17,3,22	F,7,1	Q,5,M,20	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	31	33	28	23	25	23	23	22	31	31	270	27.0
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	32	29	22	24	22	21	23	29	29	258	25.8
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	31	28	23	22	20	23	19	28	29	252	25.2
4	Golden Knights	US	24	26	28	22	18	19	20	19	24	23	223	22.3
5	Airspeed Odyssey	US	25	23	27	19	22	19	19	17	23	23	217	21.7
6	Defiance	US	24	24	26	18	19	17	19	16	24	22	209	20.9
7	GKBC	US	24	19	24	15	17	17	18	16	23	20	193	19.3
8	Dallas 350	US	18	23	24	16	16	16	16	11	22	19	181	18.1
9	ISR FireFlash	BE	21	22	19	14	17	16	14	16	20	19	178	17.8
10	SDMW NEXT XP	US	15	25	17	17	15	16	16	15	23	14	173	17.3
11	Spaceland Lite	US	19	22	19	12	17	14	13	8	19	17	160	16.0
12	Phoenix XP	US	16	18	19	13	13	13	14	14	15	17	152	15.2
13	Long Shot	US	16	14	15	13	13	14	12	12	16	17	142	14.2
14	Arizona Alpha	US	17	17	11	12	14	13	12	13	17	12	138	13.8
15	Perris Quicksilver	US	15	17	12	11	11	13	12	10	16	13	130	13.0